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Five Brits – including two people holding dual UK and US citizenship – are among more than 200 people killed in the Easter Sunday attacks which saw bombs rip through churches and luxury hotels in Sri Lanka, the country’s foreign ministry has said.

Sri Lanka’s defence minister this afternoon said seven suspects have been arrested as the death toll from the blasts rose to 207, with more than 450 injured.

The Sri Lankan government has shut down access to social media and messaging services in the country after the eight explosions.

A Sri Lankan man weeps outside a hospital in Batticaloa in eastern Sri Lanka after the blasts hit (Picture: AFP/Getty)

An inside view of St. Anthony’s Shrine after an explosion hit in the early hours of April 21 (Picture: Getty)

Sri Lanka’s defence ministry has now ordered a night-time curfew, starting at 6.00pm local time (12.30GMT), running until 6.00am local time, the ministry said.

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Christians attending Easter Sunday services are believed to have been the targets of the suspected terrorist attacks.

Three luxury hotels – the Cinnamon Grand, Shangri-La and Kingsbury hotel – and a church, St Anthony’s Shrine, were first hit in the country’s capital Colombo.

Emergency numbers

The Foreign Office has issued the following details and emergency telephone numbers:

If you are in Sri Lanka: Call the main number for the Embassy in Colombo: +94 11 5390639, follow the phone message, and select the emergency option from where you will be connected to British consular staff.

If you’re in the UK: And worried about British friends or family in Sri Lanka, call the FCO switchboard number: 020 7008 1500 and follow the same steps.

Two other churches in Negombo, a Catholic majority town north of Colombo, and in the town of Batticaloa, on the east coast of Sri Lanka, were also hit.

The seventh and eighth explosions were recorded in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwala and in the northern suburb of Orugodawatta.

Mr Dauris said the churches ‘were busy with Easter Sunday worshippers, the hotels with local people and foreign visitors’.

‘Reports suggest that several dozen people have been killed and hundreds injured in these evil and senseless attacks.

‘Our prayers are with all of the victims and their families.’

An explosion went off during an Easter Sunday service at St Anthony’s (Picture: EPA)

More damage was visible at the Kingsbury Hotel in Colombo (Picture: EPA)

An ambulance and shattered glass seen outside St. Anthony’s Shrine (Picture: AFP)

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt said he was ‘deeply shocked and saddened’ by the ‘horrifying attacks’.

He added: ‘To target those gathered for worship on Easter Sunday is particularly wicked.’

Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby said: ‘Those affected by the appalling and despicable attacks on churches and hotels in Sri Lanka will be in the prayers of millions marking Easter Sunday around the world today.

‘On this holy day, let us stand with the people of Sri Lanka in prayer, condolence and solidarity as we reject all violence, all hatred and all division.’

A spokesman for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: ‘We are aware of reports of a number of explosions in Sri Lanka, including Colombo, and we are urgently seeking information from the local authorities.

‘British nationals in Sri Lanka should follow the instructions of the local authorities and check FCO travel advice for updates.’

The attacks have been globally condemned and government officials have suggested they are aware of who is being the blasts.

No one has yet claimed responsibility.

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